WAKE UP with BWW 2/26/2016 - SCHOOL OF ROCK Auditions, OSCARS and More!

By: Feb. 26, 2016
Wake Up with BroadwayWorld
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? This weekend's big news: SCHOOL OF ROCK is on the lookout for fresh talent, and the OSCARS are this Sunday!

We had so much fun taking mug-shots of our fans at last year's BC/EFA Broadway Flea Market that we're adding a new weekly Friday morning tradition -- we call it Fan Fridays!

This week, meet Gary Lumpkin!

Name: Gary Lumpkin
Hometown: Newtown, PA
Last Show He Saw: SPRING AWAKENING
His Favorite Show: NEXT TO NORMAL
Broadway Star He Wants to Meet: Lesli Margherita

THIS WEEKEND'S TOP ITEMS:

- Broadway's SCHOOL OF ROCK holds an open call in New York City today!
- Charles Busch is THE LADY AT THE MIC for Lincoln Center's American Songbook series...
- York Theatre Company's DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE opens on Saturday.
- And the 2016 OSCARS, featuring a slew of stage and screen stars, are set for Sunday!

Cirque du Soleil rehearses PARAMOUR!

NEWS YOU MISSED YESTERDAY:

- The long-awaited revival of FALSETTOS, directed by James Lapine, will bow on Broadway this fall!
- Rachel Weisz is set to star in PLENTY at The Public!
- Susan Boyle is dropping her next album later this year.
- We got a peek (right) at Cirque du Soleil's PARAMOUR in rehearsal, plus photos of Tony winner Derek McLane's blinged-out OSCARS sets, highlights from SMOKEFALL and HER REQUIEM (here), and footage from THE NUTTY PROFESSOR at Birdland!
- Emma Thompson is adapting NANNY MCPHEE for the West End!
- BEAUTIFUL's Rashidra Scott will lead ANYTHING GOES at Goodspeed this spring.
- Michael James Scott will play 'Genie' in Australia's ALADDIN!
- Michael Douglas and Casey Nicholaw will be honored at the 2016 Actors Fund Gala.
- And off-Broadway's A ROOM OF MY OWN could hit the small screen...

Broadway Weather Forecast: Sunny all weekend, with highs in the 30s and 40s today and tomorrow, and almost 60 on Sunday!

What we're listening to: THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN SONDHEIM collection, Matt Doyle's new album UNCONTROLLED and Willie Nelson's Gershwin tribute CD, all out today!

Video of the Day: To prep for this Sunday, re-live Lady Gaga's amazing SOUND OF MUSIC performance from last year's OSCARS ceremony!


And a Happy Birthday shout-out to Michael Cumpsty, who turns 56 today!
Cumpsty is currently starring off-Broadway in THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN at Primary Stages. He last starred on Broadway in MACHINAL, and before that in THE WINSLOW BOY, END OF THE RAINBOW (which earned him a Tony nomination in 2012), SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, THE CONSTANT WIFE, DEMOCRACY, ENCHANTED APRIL, 42ND STREET, COPENHAGEN, ELECTRA, 1776, RACING DEMON, TRANSLATIONS, THE HEIRESS, LA BETE and ARTIST DESCENDING A STAIRCASE. The busy actor has also appeared off-Broadway in TWELFTH NIGHT, RICHARD II and RICHARD III, HAMLET, TIMON OF ATHENS, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, CYMBELINE, KING JOHN, ROMEO AND JULIET, MAN AND SUPERMAN and ON THE TOWN at Encores! Among Cumpsty's TV credits are MADAM SECRETARY, THE GOOD WIFE, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, ALL MY CHILDREN, BOB and L.A. LAW. His partner, John Dias, is the artistic director of Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ.
Michael Crane and Michael Cumpsty in THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN.
Photo by James Leynse

See you bright and early on Monday, BroadwayWorld!


Vote Sponsor


Videos